


It's Not Cheating If You Can't Remember

by hobgobbin



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Alcohol, Drunken Confessions, Drunken Flirting, Drunken Kissing, Drunkenness, Emotional Manipulation, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Manipulation, its not actually cheating tho I promise, just a lil bit of uhhh, just a lil....
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:53:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25900882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hobgobbin/pseuds/hobgobbin
Summary: Clem (OC) is drunk and ain't got no object permanence which means its the PERFECT time for Jhin to fuck with him
Relationships: Khada Jhin/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 14





	It's Not Cheating If You Can't Remember

**Author's Note:**

> I keep forgetting to describe the people bc I'm stupid but here's what Clem looks like\  
> https://64.media.tumblr.com/498f5566758811007f9bb1fc80ff4380/a9ce57c2f08f341e-04/s1280x1920/c23a22e301cdba803fff917876542be0d6245aa2.png
> 
> What does Jhin's face look like? well thats for you to decide

_\-- Knock, knock, knock, knock --_

Jhin stood at the door and tapped rhythmically in increments of four. It felt strange just coming up to Clem’s door like this, usually they met somewhere more secluded, but he insisted on meeting at his house. Luckily Clem didn’t live too close to the city, and his little cabin was hidden fairly well by a grove of trees. His foot quietly tapped against the stone that was laid out in front of the house as Jhin waited for his knocking to be answered. He wasn’t waiting long before the hurried tapping of claws against wood could be heard from within. The door swung open to reveal the little ferret man bouncing in place, with a bright shade of red brushed over his face. His eye practically lit up, and he let out a loud gasp when he saw Jhin standing at the door.

“You’re here!” Clem bounced up and clung onto the taller man, causing him to stumble back a bit from the force. His arms tightened around him as he rubbed his face into Jhin’s chest. “I’m so glad you’re here sweetheart, I missed you so much.”

 _S--Sweetheart?_ The surprise of both being pounced on, and the term of endearment out of nowhere caused Jhin to freeze for a moment. He was more confused than anything, Clem’s usually quiet… reserved… and he’s never heard him use a pet name like that before. After the initial shock, Jhin slowly put his hand on Clem’s head and gave him a pat before prying him off. 

“You saw me yesterday.”

“But… But I missed you…” Clem clung back onto Jhin immediately, and looked up at him with his eye wide. 

A sigh escaped the masked man as he gently pushed Clem off him again; this time he held his shoulders at an arm's length to stop him from clinging again. His head tilted as he inspected the vastaya, who eagerly beamed up at him. Strange attitude… loud voice… being clingy… red-faced…

“Have you been drinking tonight, Clematis?” One of Jhin’s hands moved to Clem’s chin and tilted it back and forth as he asked.

“A little!” Clem’s eye tried to focus on Jhin as the man tilted his face around. “I got a bottle of sweet potato shōchū a-and I didn’t wanna wait to try it.”

“You didn’t drink the whole thing already, did you?” A drunk ferret wasn’t exactly what Jhin had in mind for the night, but it looks like he didn’t have much of a choice. It should be entertaining, at the very least, to see how different the little man acts under the influence.

“No, no, I saved some for you!” Both of his hands came up and grabbed the hand that was still on his chin. Clem tugged on Jhin’s arm as he began to retreat back into his home. 

Jhin sighed, but allowed himself to be dragged along for the moment. As soon as they entered, Jhin’s uncovered eye began scanning the decor. Plenty of paintings and fabric scrolls covered the walls, mostly of Clem’s own work. Other than that there were sparse decorations, most of which were house plants. They quickly turned the corner into the living room, which contained more plants, two rather large sofas, and a small table with a couple different types of alcohol, a platter of fruit, and a few cups set out. Once they were both in the room, Clem released Jhin from his clutches and plopped down on one of the sofas. Jhin stayed in the entryway of the room, looking around, admiring the art. Clem’s art seemed to be incredibly focused on nature, which would explain the massive amount of plants that were scattered about. The style was rather classical; thick paints, realistic looking plants and life, cherubic looking people in the few paintings that had them… but each painting had something _off_ about it… Creatures lurked in the shadows of the trees, sometimes a hand may be backwards, or be replaced with a beast’s. The more he looked at them the more he realized was off-- 

The sound of glass clinking shook him out of his thoughts as he turned his head to see Clem pouring more of the shōchū into the two glasses. Right after they were poured, Clem looked over to Jhin expectantly and patted the couch cushion next to him. Jhin’s eye swept around the room once more before he made his way over to sit down. As soon as he was on the couch, Clem put his whole weight into leaning on him and wove one of his arms around his own. How excessively sweet. Jhin wanted to yank his arm away, but he felt there would be some drunken emotional repercussions. Clem looked up at him so gently, admiring him quietly as he swirled his glass around in his other hand.

“You’re really pretty…” The statement actually caught Jhin off guard as it came dreamily from Clem. Under the mask, his face contorted in confusion as his one free eye looked down at the vastaya.

“Am I now?” His voice lilted a bit higher as he asked. “How can you say that when you’ve never seen behind my mask?”

“Your mask is pretty…” Clem’s hand came up to stroke the cheek of the mask, his thumb gently tracing the outer edge of it. “A-and you have pretty eyes… I can only imagine everything else is pretty too…”

Praise of his mask was certainly appreciated, if only the same could be said for what was behind it. When Clem implied he must have a nice face as well the corner of his lip twitched. There was nothing exceptional about his looks, that’s why he made his mask so intricate, so _beautiful_ , to truly convey an artist’s grace. The hand that was caressing his mask soon fell down onto his leg as Clem turned his attention away and took a sip of his alcohol. Jhin’s attention also shifted to the drink, and then over to the bottle it came from, which was almost empty at this point. It seemed like quite a lot of alcohol for such a small man, but judging from the half empty cup of water on the table it wasn’t the only thing he was drinking. 

“Oh! I almost forgot, I got you something!” Clem jolted up so suddenly a bit of shōchū spilled from his glass onto the sofa. 

Before Jhin could say anything, the ferret man disappeared down the hall, his little claws clacking against the floor. A sigh escaped him as he wiped away the wet spot the alcohol left with a napkin from the table. Drunk Clem was quite the rambunctious one, it was certainly… interesting to see him in such a state. He wasn’t sure whether or not he could stand a whole night with him like this, but it could prove to be entertaining. Not long after he disappeared, Clem re-entered the room with a bundle of flowers and a piece of stiff parchment. Jhin craned his neck over the back of the couch to see if he could parse what was on the paper, but his attention quickly shot back up as Clem let out a very loud gasp.

“Jhin!” Clem bounced up and scurried over to the couch, plopping himself right into Jhin’s lap. “I’m so glad you’re here! How did you get in? Oh, I have a present for you!”

“You… I… Uh…”Jhin tried several times to start a sentence, but each just came out as confused babbling. He was just so utterly perplexed by the situation, he didn’t know what to say. Did Clem really just… forget he was here? In the short time he couldn’t see him? Perhaps the alcohol made him have the memory of an actual ferret... which would be…

Just. _Delightful._

It certainly gave plenty of opportunity to toy with him a bit. But _how?_ Plenty of different possibilities lined themselves up in his head, but he didn’t want to be too cruel with him; at least not when he was this compromised. He needed something dramatic, something that wouldn’t leave a mark, something that… hm…

“Clem, darling, can you tell me where your bathroom is?” His hands rested on Clem’s shoulders and rotated the man a bit until he was looking at him.

“Oh! It’s up the hall, across from my room,” Clem leaned against the other man and pointed over his shoulder to the hallway. “It’s the one with the uh... With the flowers on the door!”

“Perfect.” Gently, he pushed Clem off of him and sat him down on the cushion next to him. He stood and put his hand on Clem’s head, giving him a little pat. “I’ll be right back. Why don’t you clean up some of the petals that are decorating your floor right now, hm?”

Clem nodded and watched him walk towards the hallway before turning his attention to the floor. There weren’t many rooms in the house, so it wasn’t difficult to find the bathroom, or… Clem’s room. Jhin cautiously looked down the hallway while he reached out to test the doorknob of the bedroom. Open… Interesting. Another glance shot down the hallway as the door to the room was gently pushed open, and Jhin slipped inside.

Clem’s room was decorated the same way as the rest of the house, though a bit more cluttered. The wall was lined with plants of various sizes and forms, several large and intricate art scrolls were hanging on the otherwise blank walls, and aside from the bed the only furniture was a small vanity and a large desk that was littered with paints and art supplies. Just like the rest of the house… the art… Clem himself… the room was… quaint. Jhin spun around as he walked further into the room, trying to inspect everything. The only other thing of note was the closet that was built into the wall next to the door. After enough looking around, Jhin sat down on the bed and began undoing the various metallic pieces he adorned himself with. The mass accelerator on his shoulder came off first; there probably wasn’t much of a purpose for him to have it here in the first place, but one could never be too prepared. Once that was slid off onto the bed, he took off each of the pieces to his arm plating, arranging them all nicely next to the hextech device. The metal boots came off, his gloves, his shawl, his… Jhin hesitated to remove the mask from his face, but that was the entire point of what he was doing. He slowly removed the mask, and pulled the leather cover off of his head, taking a deep breath as his mouth was freed from it. Looking down, he turned the mask over in his hands a few times before putting it atop the pile with the rest of the bits and pieces. 

A deep sigh came from Jhin as he turned his head to look into the vanity mirror. Dreadful. He scowled at how plain and boring his face was. He didn’t even want to call this his own reflection, just some random man staring back at him from a crowd. As much as he hated it, however, he wanted to know how Clem felt about it; even if it was not an opinion of sound mind. His eyes continued to stare daggers at the mirror, but eventually they flitted down a bit to focus on his shirt, and then to the closet doors. Perhaps… a slight change of clothes would help.

Looking into the closet, Clem had a wide variety of colorful clothing. Plenty of purple and blue, with some red splashed in there sporadically. The colors were all sectioned off from the large amount of black and white clothes he had. Jhin flipped through the black clothing, looking for something that may fit him. Sweater, sweater, under shirts, ohh lace, several tight fitting turtlenecks, a _sheer bathrobe_ , interesting. After a minute or so Jhin pulled out a fancy black shirt with loose sleeves, strings in the front to tie it up, and some sort of shiny metallic rose pattern on it. As he put it on the shirt the realization of their incredible difference in height finally dawned on him. He clicked his tongue in frustration as the bottom of the shirt rested just above his belly button. Maybe there was something else he could… ah, good, Clem had several sashes he could cover his midriff with. He picked out a nice reflective golden sash and tied it off behind his back. It was quite a flashy look, he was sure he could make it flashier with some different pants, but he didn’t want to try to fit into Clem’s pants, he had to have some boundaries. Once again he looked into the mirror. Ugh, his face looked so much more plain compared to the clothes, but that couldn’t really be helped. He begrudgingly kept staring into the mirror while he slicked his hair back and decided how open he should keep the shirt. Hm… mostly open was good. Speaking of mostly open, once his hair was sorted Jhin walked over to the opposite wall to open the window up. Just in case he was in need of a dramatic escape of some sort.

A few more tweaks, and a tightening of the belt and Jhin made his way back to the other room. Before he entered he leaned over to peak into the room. Clem had gone from sitting to lying down across the couch, drink in hand, looking the other way-- luckily. He hesitated for a moment, unsure how Clem may react, or if he would actually forget his face in the morning. That was just part of the fun though, wasn’t it. With a grand step across the threshold of the room, Jhin made himself known. Clem’s head snapped up at the sound of the footsteps, and the rest of him followed until he was sat up. Silence filled the room for a brief moment as Clem just sat there and stared at Jhin, eye squinted. After what seemed like forever, the ferret man’s head cocked to the side and finally asked--

“Who are you?”

A devious smirk spread across Jhin’s face at the question. How _perfect_ ; this outcome was even better than he could have hoped for. If he didn’t even know it was him, he couldn’t remember his face. Things were going to get much more fun. 

“Oh you don’t remember me?” His voice was filled with fake offense as he strutted his way over to the couch. “You called me over here and everything.”

“D-did I? I...” Clem’s brows furrowed in confusion, obviously trying to recall the false memory. Jhin took the opportunity to grab the full glass from the table and sit down next to the stammering vastaya. 

“I’m hurt, Clem. Have you really forgotten me? ” One of his arms arced up and settled around Clem’s shoulders. Jhin leaned in closer to Clem, his face hovering just a few inches away from the other man’s. His smile widened as their eyes locked, Clem’s full of bewilderment and concern. He watched the man’s eye dart around and study his face, trying desperately to figure out who he was. It was almost adorable, seeing him so confused, especially while he was drunk off his ass.

“I-I-... I don’t know… I’m so sorry I can’t remember you, handsome man,” It sounded like the poor man was about to break down in tears. A sniffle came from him to corroborate that idea. 

_Handsome_. Jhin’s lip twitched a bit at the word, but he quickly turned it back into a smile. The sentiment was sweet, but it almost certainly came from the alcohol. The arm that was around Clem squeezed him closer as the other hand was used to tilt the sniffling man’s chin up with his pointer finger. With the now more gentle look Jhin was giving, the sniffling slowly stopped, but Clem’s eyes were still confused, sad, unsure of what to do. Jhin took his hand away to sip the shōchū, and to give the smile a rest; he hasn’t smiled this much for a while, and it was starting to hurt his face. After a bit of a drawn out drink, he placed the glass back on the table and returned his hand to Clem’s chin.

“Don’t worry yourself too much about it, darling, we have plenty of time to get _reacquainted_.” Jhin leaned forward to kiss the vastaya, but his lips were met by the side of a fist. The little man held his balled up hand in front of his face, which was pointed down at the couch, and spilling out all kinds of stammered nonsense. 

“I-I-I can’t I have a… a…” Clem’s voice faltered a bit as he trailed off, trying to find the words for--

“Boyfriend?” Clem’s face was already red from the alcohol, but Jhin could swear the red got brighter at the word. He couldn’t help but let out a bit of a snicker at the reaction. Is that really how Clem saw him? How innocent. It was nice to know he was attached to him, and he wanted to see how far those feelings went. If he could shake that attachment a little tonight, it could lead to a dramatic follow-up performance for another night.

“Y-yeah… something like that.” As the words came out Clem brought a hand up, trying to hide his face. It seemed like Clem’s regular shy self was starting to shine through the alcohol.

“Well, he can’t be that great if you called me here.” Jhin’s voice lilted sweetly, another devious smile creeping across his face. His hand dropped down from Clem’s shoulder and to his waist, gently caressing his side all the way down. Clem squinted again, likely thinking about the truth of that statement again. Before he could think too hard about that, Jhin leaned in closer. His other hand brushed a lock of Clem’s hair away from his face and gently twirled it as he tucked it away. “Why don’t you forget about that for now? Just relax.”

Clem didn’t say anything, but he did lean into the hand as Jhin tried to pull it away from his hair. Jhin took the hint and played with his hair a bit more. _Excellent_ , he seemed to finally be getting comfortable; he had to essentially insult himself to do it, but at least it was working. Clem’s hands came up to cup the other man’s hand, holding it still while he cuddled his face into it. So sweet, so _disgustingly_ sweet. Now that he was getting somewhere, Jhin dropped the hand from Clem’s face --eliciting a bit of a whimper as he did-- and slid it down to the other side of his waist. With one swift movement, Jhin lifted Clem up and onto his lap; luckily he was an incredibly small, incredibly light man. As he was moved Clem let out a surprised squeak, and started stammering in protest. He was quickly silenced by lips gently pressing against his own. There was no protest this time, he gladly accepted the kiss, leaned into it even. Jhin smiled against Clem’s lips and pulled away with the smile still on his face. Clem, however, still looked a bit nervous and unsure. Eyes half-lidded, Jhin leaned down again, lips just barely brushing against Clem’s.

“If it makes you feel better, you can just call me by your boyfriend’s name.”

More babbling and stammering from Clem shifted to a squeaky yelp as Jhin’s hands drifted downward to squeeze his ass. Clem both sounded and looked nervous, but he was clearly liking the attention by the way he shifted himself forward to pop his ass out a bit more. Jhin’s hands rested there as he leaned down and kissed a line from one of Clem’s shoulders up to his jaw. He knew the little vastaya loved such tender, romantic affection, and he was glad to play that part for the time being. Clem craned his head upward, allowing Jhin to place more kisses along his neck before stopping and sucking at the skin. The ferret man squeaked again and let out a shaky moan at the feeling of tongue against his neck. His hips bucked forward a bit, prompting Jhin to hum against his skin and caress his ass more. 

“ _J-Jhin_ ,” Clem’s voice fluttered as he moaned the name into the air. His little arms snaked around Jhin’s neck and pulled himself closer to the man. 

The sound of his name made Jhin smile and chuckle against the smaller man’s skin. How sweet, the way he moaned for him; even if he didn’t know it was him. Jhin’s hands tightened around Clem’s ass again, causing another sweet moan to come from the man. With a bit of a hum, Jhin brought his lips away from Clem’s neck and back up to his face. Clem whimpered at the lack of lips on him. While one hand stayed on Clem’s ass, the other came up to his chin to tilt his face back and forth a little. What an adorable little pout on the man’s face, and the fact that his eye was clamped shut was just precious. He was probably trying to think of Jhin doing this to him, unaware that that’s exactly what was happening. More sweet little whimpers came from Clem as Jhin took a few moments to admire the details of his face. Oh how he wished to carve it into something even more beautiful… but that would have to wait. 

Slowly, so _very_ slowly, Jhin brought his lips down to Clem’s for a gentle kiss. The gentleness of it didn’t stay long, though. Clem was actually the one to press harder into the kiss first, leaning into it almost as soon as their lips ment. Jhin gladly escalated it a bit more as he held Clem’s face still while he pushed some tongue into the equation. It was enthusiastically accepted by Clem opening his mouth to allow the tongue to roam freely. Many little moans came from Clem’s throat as the two continued to mash their faces together. The moans turned more into rapid-fire squeeks, and Clem inhaled sharply through his nose and then… Jhin felt something wet drip down his face. He stopped for a second, and then pulled away to see that the man on his lap was now… crying. 

Sniffles started to erupt from the little vastaya, and Jhin could feel his body shaking. Jhin’s eyebrow cocked up as he looked down at the poor thing. He probably should have expected some emotional issues with the element of drunkenness, but he didn’t think Clem would let out the water-works. Clem’s hands retreated up to his face as he just sat there and tried to calm his own breathing. The emotion was disgusting, but at the same time beautiful; Clem was such a lovely actor in this little drama he was spinning. Jhin finally took his other hand off Clem’s ass and brought it up to rub his back. 

“What’s wrong dear? Is this too much for you?” Jhin tried to seem sympathetic, but he could hear the fakeness of his own voice; luckily Clem was too drunk to notice.

“I-I-I… I’m s-sorry I just…” Clem’s voice shook violently as he spoke. He bit his lip and sniffled more before he could calm down enough to continue. “I-I don’t wanna cheat on Jhin…” 

So adorable, so sweet, so _sickeningly_ sweet.

“Oh? Are you afraid of what might happen?” Jhin’s hand slowly traced circles around Clem’s back, trying to calm him down. It took a few minutes, but Clem’s breath started to even out.

“N-no-- I mean yes b-but...” He looked like he was about to break down again, but he took a couple deep breaths to keep himself together. “H-he may be scary sometimes but I don’t… I don’t wanna betray someone I love…”

 _ **Love**_. The word hit Jhin in the chest like a rock. There was a twisted sort of pride in hearing Clem loved him; he thought it would’ve taken much longer to get to that point. Jhin was confident in his acting, but he didn’t realize how easy it was to pull the heartstrings. That was also going to make this particular performance a bit more difficult. Perhaps in this case it was better to quit while he was ahead. As tempting as more drama was, he didn’t want to do too much with Clem being in such a compromised state. Besides, with Clem looking like he was going to break down into tears again, there was just enough drama to satisfy him for the night.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart…” Jhin tried to sound as sincere as he could with his final words of the night; or at least his final words without his mask for the night. “I didn’t mean to cause such distress… How about I leave, and you can forget this ever happened. No need to worry, I’m sure this _Jhin_ person would be happy to know how _loyal_ you are.”

Clem started sniffling again, and nodded shakily. He removed himself from Jhin’s lap and curled up on the end cushion. _Poor thing_. Jhin got up and gave Clem a reassuring pat on the shoulder as he made his way to the door. He lingered in the hallway for a moment, turning to look over his shoulder at Clem. The little man, still curled up, fell onto the couch, his squeaky sobs being muffled by the cushion. A smirk crept back onto Jhin’s face for a moment. What a wonderful little performance. He made his way to the front door; there was no intention of leaving, but he had to make it sound like he did. Once the door creaked shut behind him, Jhin quietly made his way around the house, back to Clem’s bedroom window. On his way he quickly peaked into the living room to make sure Clem was still on the couch which, luckily, he was. 

As he climbed in through the window, Jhin played the scene back in his head again. Not his best work, surely, but it was fun at least. He almost felt bad about making Clem cry, but oh how it added to the performance-- No, not added, how it made the performance. Emotion was the cornerstone of good art, after all. While he was thinking, he undressed and meticulously put Clem’s clothes back into their proper positions. He sat down on the bed and slowly put all of his regular costume on. Shirt, belt, boots, armor, mass accelerator… When it got to his mask he looked back into the mirror and recalled Clem’s words. _Handsome_. Would he really think he was handsome if he knew who it was? The vastaya harbored feelings for him, but he had to be expecting something more grand for his face, surely. A sigh escaped him as he turned away and slid the leather cover back over his face. Then the mask was strapped back in place on top of it all. He glanced into the mirror once more, his look now completed yet again. Much better.

Once he put himself back together he waited for a bit, not wanting to immediately go confront Clem. After he felt he’d waited a relatively safe amount of time, he snuck out of the room again, and made his way back to the living room. He didn’t peak around the corner this time, he just stepped out into the entryway. To his surprise, the sad whimpering from the man had turned to a gentle snoring as he lay still on the couch. Must have tired him out with all the commotion tonight. Instead of just leaving him to sleep, Jhin quietly made his way over to the couch. Clem was all curled up in a ball, his tail wrapped around to his face. It was… cute… the way he curled up like a small animal to sleep. Jhin reached a hand down to run it through Clem’s soft, blue hair. Then, he gently lifted Clem’s head up; just enough to put it in his lap when he sat down. The ferret man stirred a little, but he stayed asleep. Surely there was more interesting or important work he could be doing but… He’d filled his drama quota for the night. Maybe he could just relax with a soft little animal in his lap for now.

His hand twirled a lock of Clem’s hair in it as he once again thought over the events of the night. He could have done better in a few aspects. Maybe he could have actually come up with a fake name, been more grand with his movements, his affection, perhaps even-- His thoughts were cut off by the feeling of the head in his lap rubbing against him. He looked down to see Clem cuddling himself into his stomach; one of his little hands also came up to rest under his head. While his eyes were cast down he noticed the bundle of flowers and card Clem had tried to give him earlier. Trying his best to not rouse the other man, Jhin slowly reached down to pick the card from the floor. One side was blank aside from Jhin’s name and a stylized bouquet of hearts, the other side, however, there was a lovely painting. Clem obviously had a good eye for detail because this was a _beautiful_ recreation of his mask, surrounded by roses and petals; his covered eye was even covered by a blooming rose. His lip twitched up into a smile under the mask. Everything about this man really was so sickly sweet, from his personality to his art. He couldn’t stop staring at it… until he heard Clem rousing awake. Jhin tucked the picture into his shawl and turned his attention back down to see Clem’s large pink eye looking back up at him. Before he could say anything, the eye was immediately tearing up again. Clem turned his body around and hugged onto Jhin’s waist tightly.

“Jhin! Jhin I-I-I… I’m so… I…” His grip tightened and Clem rubbed his face into Jhin’s side as he blubbered pathetically. 

“Did you have a nightmare, little flower?” Jhin’s voice was gentle, _actually_ gentle this time, not a staged fake-gentle as it had been earlier. His hand moved under one of Clem’s armpits, and dragged him upwards to a proper sitting position. He allowed himself to be sat up, but immediately clung back on to Jhin.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I kissed a-another man,” His voice shook, and so did his head as he tried to wipe his eye on Jhin’s shoulder. Jhin was glad his mask was back on, because he couldn’t help but smile behind it. 

“Oh?” Jhin tilted his head and brought his hand back up to play with Clem’s hair. “Must have been a strange nightmare then. Unless you somehow snuck out to see someone after you fell asleep.”

“H-Have I been…” Clem’s teary eye looked back up at Jhin’s face. Both confusion and a bit of relief flashed across Clem’s face. He put his cheek down on Jhin’s shoulder and whispered to himself. “J-just a nightmare…”

It may have been more interesting to pretend he believed him, but Jhin didn’t want to put the poor man through too much more tonight. He’d have to think of a way to bring this back up another time though, this couldn’t be the end of this play. No good performance ever ended with ‘it was just a dream,’ and Jhin refused to have a bad performance. For now, Clem earned a bit of comfort after such an emotional role. Jhin’s arm snaked around Clem and rubbed his back reassuringly. Clem steadied his breath again and looked up to Jhin, eye wide.

“C… Can you stay with me tonight?” 

The question actually caught Jhin off guard. His head lurched back a little and his head tilted to the side. He didn’t have much of a reason not to, aside from it being a bit uncomfortable to sleep in his mask. A hand came up to scratch his chin as he considered the request. He could probably cover up with one of Clem’s sashes but… he can’t just ask for one of those. But he could…

“Mm… If you have something I can cover my face with, sure, I’ll humor you.” Jhin’s hand went from his chin to gently playing with one of Clem’s ferret ears. “It’s dreadful to sleep in the mask, you know.”

“Really?” Clem’s eye, though still watery, lit up with joy. He squeezed Jhin closer and smiled up at him. “I have some head scarves or sashes that might work! A-and I promise not to look while you’re putting them on.”

“Alright then. I suppose I can stay for a night.” Jhin stood up, half dragging Clem up to his feet with him. It was probably best to get to bed as soon as possible. “Do you have a guest room?”

“O-oh no I uh…” Clem stood and straightened himself out as Jhin did, but immediately went to fidgeting with his hands. “I w-wanted you to uh… to sleep in my room with me…”

“Ohoho, _really_?” There was a sing-songy lilt in Jhin’s voice with the question. It was expected, but it was still so fun to see Clem get so worked up about such a simple request. “Sleeping in the same bed? How risque.” 

“I-it’s not! I just wanna… I wanna cuddle,” Clem squeaked the words out, obviously embarrassed. 

The nervousness on Clem’s face was as sweet as always. He was so unbelievably easy to fluster, but it was still so fun every time. Jhin’s arm slipped back around Clem’s shoulders and pulled him closer as he leaned down. His masked face hovered just above Clem’s own face. 

“You’re asking quite a lot of me, aren’t you?” As he spoke Clem’s eye dropped, and he began to pout again. “But… I’ll allow it. Just for tonight.”

Clem lit back up and grabbed onto one of Jhin’s hands, ushering him to follow him. Jhin allowed himself to be dragged along as Clem bounced down the hall to his room. Upon entering, Clem immediately went to his closet to dig around for a scarf of some sort. Jhin inspected the closet again as it opened, just to make sure he put everything back properly. Even if he didn’t, Clem certainly didn’t notice. After a minute of searching, Clem pulled out a long black scarf and handed it over to Jhin. It was very soft, light fabric, it should be fine to breathe through for the night. Clem beamed up at him as he turned the fabric around in his hand. Jhin’s eye flicked up to look at the smiling man.

“Oh, are you going to watch me undress?” Jhin teased.

“N-no! Sorry I’ll just…uh...” Clem’s smile turned into a nervous one, and then he stepped backwards into his closet and slid the door shut behind him. “I’ll just change in here! I promise I won’t look through!”

A soft chuckle came from Jhin as the vastaya disappeared behind the door. Normally he wouldn’t dare undress with even a small chance of someone seeing him, but Clem was a man of his word, sometimes to a fault. Jhin went through the same process of undressing as earlier; taking everything off, putting it in a neat pile, but this time he wrapped everything up with his shawl and pushed it under Clem’s bed. He took the fabric in his hands and turned to the mirror, so he could wrap his head up. He tried to mimic his leather under-mask as best as he could. He left only one eye uncovered, though slightly more skin was showing thanks to the way he had to wrap it. Once his head was properly wrapped he tucked the excess fabric down into his collar. The scarf was definitely more breathable than the mask. _How boring_ … but there was no need to restrict himself now, especially if he was going to be asleep. Stripped down to just his shirt, pants, and the scarf, Jhin thought that was comfortable enough for him. 

“You can come out of the closet now, Clem.”

As soon as the words were said Clem slung the door open and stepped out in a floral print silk bathrobe. His arms flourished into the air and he struck a pose after taking a step out, and then shouted,

“I’m gay!”

Jhin put his face in his hand, but he couldn’t help but smile under the mask. He wanted to blame the alcohol for that, but he knew damn well Clem would have done that either way. When he raised his head back up he took a minute to inspect the outfit Clem had switched into. A short, silk robe, mostly white with red and pink roses on the bottom and around the shoulders. Such a pretty little thing; both the robe and Clem wearing it.

“Put on something special for me, dear?” Jhin now rested his chin on the back of his hand, and very clearly looked Clem up and down. There wasn’t much real interest in his voice, but just like almost everything he did tonight, he wanted to fluster the little man.

“I-I mean, kind of… but, but not like that!” Clem went from scratching the back of his head to shaking his hands back and forth in front of him. “I usually wear… less. S-so I had to put something else on. To make sure you’re comfortable!”

“Less, huh?” He really made this too easy. “Don’t feel like you need to dress up for me. I’m _more_ than fine if you’d rather sleep in the nude.”

The drunk blush had started to fade, but now it was replaced with a bright new blush at the comment. The smile under Jhin’s mask widened as he watched Clem stutter and shift around, unsure of what to do. As much as he’d love to continue with this, he didn’t want things to accidentally go any further.

“I’m sure you’re tired, darling, come on.” He gave a throaty laugh and patted the bed next to him.

Jhin didn’t wait for Clem to come over to make himself comfortable. He rolled over to the corner of the bed and stretched out a bit. Clearly this bed was made for much smaller people, because his feet were hanging off the end of it. It was annoying, but it wasn’t the worst place he’s ever slept. Soon after he laid down, Clem followed. He was a bit hesitant, but Clem climbed into the bed and put an arm around Jhin, wiggling closer to him as he did. Clem pressed himself closer, and even laid his head on Jhin’s chest, giving a pleased sigh as he settled in. He was so comfortable, so happy… It was tempting to change that, but Jhin was starting to get tired as well. Instead, he took his arm away from Clem and wrapped it around him. The little vastaya deserved one gentle night.


End file.
